The
meatball is a delicacy that’s been served a
good long time, across the globe.
Tannahill, “Food in History” (1973), provides a medieval recipe for “pumpe” — meatballs
in a sauce. The recipe starts with boiling pork, then chopping it into bits.
Meatballs, nowadays in the United States, often are associated with Italy. (Italian
meatballs were discussed here previously.) But persons of numerous ethnicities
have memories of the meatballs prepared by their mothers.
Typically, raw meat — ground or minced — is mixed with raw egg, spices,
a filler (such as bread or breadcrumbs), and perhaps milk or cream; the mixture
is formed into balls and heated. The major difference generally is in the spices,
with Hungarian meatballs, for example, containing paprika — not apt to
be used in non-Hungarian recipes.
Egyptian meatballs, “kofta,” are fashioned from minced beef or lamb.
Typical spices are finely chopped coriander leaves and mint leaves. The meatballs,
which are fried, are often served with a curry.
Beef, lamb or pork can be used for Greek meatballs (“keftethes”),
derived from kofta. Chopped fresh mint and chopped fresh parsley are commonly
added. Some recipes call for use of ouzo (unsweetened Greek liqueur) or red wine.
The balls are deep fried. A dipping sauce made from yogurt is frequently used.
In Poland, meatballs (“klopsiki”) are made with ground beef, pork
or veal, or a combination of the meats. They are browned in hot lard, then baked,
and sometimes served in sour cream.
Armenians prepare a meatball within a meatball. These stuffed meatballs are called “karpet
porov kufta.” A lamb meatball is encased in a layer of ground lamb mixed
with fine bulgur (cracked wheat). The balls are boiled in lamb broth.
David Kline, editor of this newspaper, advised in an e-mail:
“If you’ve never tried the Croatian version of meatballs, you should
do so. The delicacy called cevapcici (cha-VOP-cha-chee) is a combination of beef,
pork and spices formed into a sausage shape and grilled. It’s somewhere
in between a hamburger and a meatball, and it tastes great when topped with minced
red onions and served with a side of pasta or potato salad.”
Scandinavian meatballs, typically served in brown gravy, rival Italian meatballs
in popularity. Of the three Scandinavian nations, Sweden is most readily associated
with meatballs.
Swedish meatballs — or “köettbullar” — contain ground
beef and pork, sometimes veal. Raw egg, breadcrumbs, half-and-half, melted butter
and nutmeg are added. Minced onion and parsley are frequently included. Some
recipes instruct that the mixture be refrigerated a couple of hours or so before
the balls are formed. Swedish meatballs are generally fried. The same mixture
can be used for meatloaf.
A recipe in “Swedish Cooking” (1983), printed in Sweden, eliminates
the veal and substitutes allspice for nutmeg.
I ordered meatballs once during a short visit to Sweden. The person taking the
order evinced utter disdain, clearly resenting the stereotypical concept of meatballs
as the centerpiece of Swedish cuisine.
Danish meatballs, or “frikadeller,” traditionally start with minced
pork and veal, mixed with raw egg, spice, onion, milk and filler.
Tufford’s “Original Scandinavian Recipes” (1976) calls for
grinding a pound of beef with a fourth pound of salt pork and an onion, combining
this with a slice of dry bread soaked in milk, four beaten eggs, and salt and
pepper, forming the mixture into balls, and coating them with breadcrumbs that
are swimming in beaten egg and milk. The balls are fried in butter.
Other Danish recipes prescribe boiling the meatballs.
Norwegian meatballs (“kjøttboller”) are, of course, the best
meatballs on earth. As an American of Norwegian heritage (on my mother’s
side), I’m obliged to say that.
Actually, Norwegian meatballs are not much different from Swedish meatballs,
except that they are apt to include ginger, perhaps mashed potatoes as a filler,
maybe heavy cream.
And, there are Chinese meatballs.
Meatballs serve as a filling for dim sum. Minced beef can be seasoned with small
pieces of water chestnut and tangerine peel, formed into a ball, wrapped in a
fried bean curd sheet, then steamed. Minced pork and small mushroom chunks can
be used. Varieties are numerous.
Ground pork can be used as a filling for wonton, mixed with such seasonings as
finely chopped ginger. The wrappers are made from flour, water, egg and corn
starch. Wontons are deep fried or are boiled and added to stock.
JiaoZi are made from ground pork or beef, mixed with finely minced cabbage and
ginger, and stuck in balls of dough, which are boiled.
Ground pork, mixed with chopped cabbage and minced ginger, are fillers for gyoza,
a Japanese dish that originated in China. Round wrappers, indistinguishable except
for the shape from square wonton wrappers, are used. The oblong dumplings are
pan-fried (“potstickers”) or deep-fried or boiled.
The "55-Plus" column
is written especially for those over the age of 55, by a veteran California
journalist who is himself eligible for the club. Roger M. Grace has written
and edited newspapers for more than four decades, and has been a lawyer
for more than three.
Young
and Old Fiddle Around at Monthly Jam Session
A
Meatball by Any Other Name Would Taste as Good 